Review : Bright light

The Fire Within the Eye is easily described. It is science writing at its best. David Park is plainly fascinated by his subject and he manages to excite the same emotion in the reader. He provides a history of discoveries about the nature of light from the earliest times up to our own laser-using era, combined with a brilliant explanation of optics. But that is only half of the book's attraction. Park fixes all this into the context of the spiritual and metaphorical meaning of light in religion and art and our own lives, all in the most lucid, enthralling prose. A superb performance. Published by Princeton University Press, £24.95/$29.95, ISBN 0691043329.

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